Yes, Kerry decided. It is selfish of me. Everyone was hurting.
She was making it worse. She’d always been taught to deny herself for the comfort of others, and this was a prime example of the opportunity to do just that. Right. Now she just had to clue in her other half.
Kerry glanced at Dar, who was gazing down at the chocolate milk in her other hand. Dar’s profile was tense, and she could see the shift of the muscles along Dar’s jawline as she clenched and relaxed it. Dar was as uncomfortable as her family was, being there in a place where almost everyone hated her, and involved in a highly emotional situation she had little experience and less skill in dealing with.
Hm. My lifelong flowchart, Kerry realized, has gained a branch.
Sacrificing my comfort for others is fine—unless it hurts Dar. The solicitous attention was Dar’s way of dealing with the situation, focusing her concentration on something she could do something about and gaining some measure of balance from that.
Push Dar away, and it would please her family. Kerry swal-Thicker Than Water 79
lowed as Dar looked up and their eyes met. She saw the tiny fur-row form over the bridge of Dar’s nose, and in pure reflex she reached out and smoothed it away.
Dar relaxed and sat back, holding up her milk with a wry grin. “Open this for me?”
“Sure.” Kerry glanced casually around as she pulled the carton’s top open, then handed it back. Then she peeled her banana, took a bite, and chewed it thoughtfully.
MICHAEL AND BRIAN arrived just after noon. Kerry stood near the window in the waiting room, and she turned as she heard the footsteps. She met her brother’s eyes as he entered, followed by her old friend.
Mike went to her, and she pulled him into a hug. She gave Brian a pensive smile over her brother’s shoulder. “Hey, Mikey.”
“Hey.” Michael sighed, releasing her. “Sucky day.”
“Yeah. Big time.” She gave him a final squeeze, then ducked past him and found herself being hugged by Brian. Michael joined Angie and her mother on the other side of the room. “Hey, Bri,”
she greeted her onetime boyfriend.
“Hi, Kerry,” Brian replied shyly. “Sorry about all this.”
“Me, too.”
They parted. Kerry tipped her head back and they regarded each other for a moment. If things had been different, she realized, they’d have been married by now. She tried to imagine that, and found she really just couldn’t—it was too remote from who she was now. Though she felt an echo of warm affection when she looked at Brian, she knew she’d never loved him enough to spend her life with him. She wondered if he felt the same way.
“How are you?” She took his hands. “Angie said you got promoted?”
A brief smile flickered over his face. “They made me a junior partner, yeah. Not too bad for less than a year, but nothing like your career’s been.”
“Mm.” Kerry smiled back. “Thanks for coming down here. I know it’s a zoo downstairs.” She exhaled, glancing behind him to see her uncles reenter the room. “Not that it’s been much better here.”
“Yeah, Mike was telling me.” Brian gently rubbed her hands.
“It’s good to see you, though. You look great.” His eyes twinkled slightly. “I’ll have to come down to Miami sometime to see where you get that tan from.”
“Anytime,” Kerry said. “Plenty of sun to go around, I promise you.”
80 Melissa Good
“Kerrison.”
Kerry glanced at where her mother was now standing, with Angie and Mike next to her. Kerry gave Brian’s hands one last squeeze, then released them and straightened her shoulders before she started towards her family. Her eyes flicked to the far corner of the room where Dar was leaning against the window and gazing out at the snow. After a brief instant, Dar turned and met her gaze, her lips tensing in sympathy. Kerry returned the look, then walked to her mother. “I’m here.”
“Let us go into that area there.” Cynthia indicated a small office tucked inconspicuously in a corner. The doctor was standing there, obviously waiting for them. “It’s time.”
They filed into the room and closed the door behind them, leaving the rest of the assembled family and friends in a somber, chilly silence.
IT WAS GRAY outside. Dar could feel the chill through the thick glass of the window, and she watched in idle bemusement as the snow fell harder onto the parking lot below.
The weather seemed appropriate to the situation, though. Dar glanced down at the television news trucks gathered near the back entrance to the hospital, their lights glowing dimly in the winter gloom. It also matched the atmosphere inside the room, she acknowledged wryly as she glanced up to catch the reflection in the window of what was behind her.
Center of attention, Dar resisted the urge to straighten. She could see Kerry’s aunts and uncles glaring at her back, and the half furtive, half curious looks she was getting from the tall, blond Brian. Her…rival? Dar almost smiled. Kerry had called Brian a good friend, but she hadn’t gotten a chance to talk to him at their first meeting, a brief few minutes at Angie’s bedside after the birth of her infant son.
Brian’s son as well, in fact. Dar wondered if Angela had ever told anyone else about that. Even having only exchanged a nod with Brian, Dar thought he’d be a better match for Angie than her husband Richard. She looked at her own reflection, seeing the pale light glint off her eyes. Would that change now?
For Kerry’s sake, Dar felt badly about the whole reason they were there. She was honest enough with herself, however, to admit she wasn’t sorry to see the end of Senator Stuart. The man was a bastard who’d made his kids miserable most of their lives, in Dar’s view. And while she wasn’t glad, exactly, that he’d been stricken the way he had been, she also didn’t feel any reason to pity him.
Thicker Than Water 81
Dar sighed and watched the snow covering the cars. She was surprised at just how depressing it appeared.
“Excuse me.”
Dar’s eyes jerked up at the sound and she turned to find Brian standing right behind her. He met her surprised gaze warily, then pursed his lips and stuck his hands in his pockets. “Yeah?”
“I…um.” Brian peered at her from under sandy eyebrows.
“We really didn’t get a chance to meet last time.” He stuck a hand out. “I’m Brian Evans.”
“I know.” Dar allowed a half smile as she took his hand and gripped it firmly. “Dar Roberts.”
“Yeah, I know,” Brian replied, returning his hand to his pocket. “Well, I just wanted to say hello.” He seemed at a loss for further conversation.
Dar leaned back against the glass and crossed one ankle over the other. He was fairly good looking, she decided, with an angular face and a gentle demeanor that reminded her just a little of Kerry’s. “I’m glad you came.”
He peered at her. “You are?”
Dar nodded. “Kerry needs all the friends she can get.” She glanced pointedly around him at the rest of her lover’s family, who were glaring at her with venomous intent.
“Ah.” Brian followed her eyes, then exhaled. “Yeah, it’s been tough, or so Angie told me. I guess it’s more important for some people to nurture their hatred.”
“Yeah.” Dar exhaled. “More I see of it, the more I appreciate my parents.” She shook her head a tiny bit. “What a waste of energy.”